February 1, 2012 To Whom It May Concern: I would like to highly recommend Bryce Coon for a job within your

district. As one of his mentor teachers, I have had the pleasure of working with him on a daily basis. Bryce has been an intern for the past 6 months at Holt High School in Holt, Michigan. In my classroom, Bryce has been directly in charge of three sections of American Government, including planning, classroom management, and grading, as well as teaching. Mr. Coon has also spent innumerable hours outside of the classroom researching, engaging in his curriculum at MSU, and traveling to Washington D.C. on a well-deserved grant. Bryces intelligence, sense of humor, understanding of multiple learning styles and student interests as well as his general interest in the art of education have made him a pleasure to work with. Bryce has challenged me as a mentor to think more critically about student learning, educational theories, and the curriculum. Bryce has taken on full responsibility for the American Government course as required by the State of Michigan. As this is a fast-paced course, Bryce has been faced with the ever-common teacher challenge of making content engaging, interesting, applicable, and connective to student lives. He has worked to improve his methods by reading professional articles, self-assessment and reflection, and observation of other teachers. In planning, Bryce has used the Understanding by Design (Wiggins and McTighe) model, where the first steps in planning include creating goals and assessments. His lessons are always connected to what happened yesterday, what will happen tomorrow, and the assessments always match the goals. Bryce knows that lessons must appeal to all types of learners, so he has worked diligently to engage student interest with a wide variety of video clips, current news stories, his own lifes experiences and travels, and other bits of interest. He not only uses this material as a hook to get students interested, but also often for its intrinsic historical or conversational value. Bryces strength lies in his ability to think quickly and globally. He is not quick to tell students the correct answer, instead asking students to think more critically and make arguments using evidence about the material and the knowledge they take for granted. Bryce has worked diligently to engage all students in thoughtful discussion, every day, in every way. He is patient, observant, and thoughtful in all he does. As a learner himself, he is reflective and visionary, with a strong set of educational beliefs concerning student learning and involvement in their education. On a more personal note, Bryce is extremely focused and passionate about education. He is a caring, interesting person who is available to students outside of class because he honestly cares about them and their experience in his classroom. He is a valuable member of our professional community, participating in department meetings and after school collaboration sessions. Again, I highly recommend Bryce Coon for a job within your district. Thank you for your time.

Hannah Cappelletti Holt High School 517-699-6996 hcappell@hpsk12.net